Letters to the Editor

A Disgruntled Citizen

To the Editor:

This is an open letter to the people of Hickory Hill.

Welcome to Memphis. I’ve heard several of you say that you moved to Hickory Hill to get “out” of Memphis. In the years that you have been away we have experienced many changes.

The exclusive Cotton Carnival is gone. In its place we have something called “Memphis in May,” which decided to keep the riff-raff out of its shows by putting up a chain-link fence. Now that isn’t as exclusionary as it might sound, because if you’ve got enough money you can actually get in and sniff the barbecue as the private teams cook. You can even sit 250 yards from the stage where James Hyter, a true treasure of the city, sings “Ol’ Man River.”

We allowed our former school superintendent to leave his anointed/appointed position a couple of years early and collect enough money for those years to provide air-conditioning for a school. But the children benefitted by knowing that their “role model” had succeeded in getting out of the heat of the inner city and into the really “cool” office of mayor. …

If any of you “newcomers” are out of work, we have some good jobs. If you are willing to endure a long commute to downtown Memphis, we have a commission that is looking for a “leader.” It must be a good position, the last guy tripled his salary by charging toothpaste, books, bicycles, and the other such things to his expense account. …

For those of you who haven’t been down Riverside Drive lately, we have a wonderful addition, a riverwalk about half way up the bluff. It’s below the big houses on top but not at street level. Let’s just call it a high-priced sidewalk that doesn’t go by anyone’s house. …

I’m no Arthur Prince, but a slightly paraphrased quote from Voltaire comes to mind. “In general, the art of government consists in taking as much money as possible from one class of citizens and giving it to the other.”

My only observation and question for you as a new citizen of our fair city is that since we have some really “artful” politicians in our city, county, and state, can you tell me which way the money and the resources are going to be flowing in the next few years?

Bobby Blair
e-mail (Memphis)

The Memphis Flyer encourages reader response. Send mail to: Letters to the Editor, POB 687, Memphis, TN 38101. Or call Back Talk at 575-9405. Or send us e-mail at letters@memphisflyer.com. All responses must include name, address, and daytime phone number. Letters should be no longer than 250 words.

Editor’s Note

Please note that we have a new e-mail address for letters to the editor. It is letters@memphisflyer.com. We no longer have an address at America Online.

A couple of things to clear up on the sports scene. The coach on the cover of last week’s Flyer is David Lockwood, the wide receivers coach at the University of Memphis. Lockwood played four years at West Virginia. His senior year, the Mountaineers played Notre Dame for the national championship.

In the smaller picture on the cover, Lockwood is standing next to Memphis secondary coach Tim Pendergast. We apologize for not identifying them last week.

Two corrections from recent sports columns. Linebacker Damon Young made two game-saving tackles against Ole Miss in 1987. An incorrect date appeared in the sports column last week.

And, finally, Reid Hedgepeth, the U of M tight end who quit the team last month, has only one year of eligibility remaining should he transfer to another division 1 school.